Fides
by banjkazfan
Summary: Nate's body language is putting him off; he's leaning back with all of his weight on his back leg as if he's prepared to turn and bolt at any second. It's an unpleasant reminder of the early days where Nate would frequently disappear for hours at a time and Sully was left to wonder if he had pushed the boy too far. Spoilers for Uncharted 3.


From somewhere off to his side, Victor Sullivan hears hesitant footsteps. He's searched the surrounding area for Nate, but he hasn't turned up yet. The footsteps tell him that someone else is present and he pauses for a moment before calling out. "That you, kid…?"

Considering his options are either Nate or one of Marlowe's men, he's really hoping that he's not revealing his hand here.

Sully comes around the construct, gun hanging loosely in his hand, and isn't ashamed to admit the relief he feels upon seeing Nate staring back at him. "Oh, thank God," he murmurs. When Nate doesn't reply, he tosses the gun aside and looks the younger man in the face. Something's clearly not right; the kid looks shaken. "You alright?" he asks, his tone a little softer than he'd typically use. Nate's body language is putting him off; he's leaning back with all of his weight on his back leg as if he's prepared to turn and bolt at any second. It's an unpleasant reminder of the early days where Nate would frequently disappear for hours at a time and Sully was left to wonder if he had pushed the boy too far.

Sully pushes the thought away, not wanting to dwell on it. He decides to change his tactic. "Man," he says, forcing his tone into a lighter air, "I had a hell of a time – "

His sentence dies on his lips as Nate's gun levels at his chest, and Sully has confirmation that something is definitely wrong. His arms remain at his sides as he stares at the younger man. "What's the matter with you?" he asks. Older and darker gaze meets younger and lighter, and Sully recognizes the look in the other's eyes.

And for a moment, Sully isn't looking at _his_ Nate that he's come to know so well. He's looking into the eyes of the terrified 15-year-old who's been through hell and doesn't know who to trust.

Nate is scared out of his mind.

"How do I know you're real?" Nate manages to ask, his hold on the gun unsteady – _not the way I taught him,_ Sully idly muses. The look in Nate's eyes is wild and fearful, just like after Talbot drugged him. Coupled with his question, Sully begins to piece the puzzle together. It occurs to him that the uncertainty of not knowing what's real must be tearing Nate apart. God only knows what the kid sees to make him do this.

There's a time for talk and a time for action, and Victor Sullivan knows the difference. He raises his hands to his shoulders to show the other man that he is unarmed. Sully steps closer without a word and is relieved to see that Nate does not run. The younger man does take half of a tentative step backwards, but Sully is undeterred. He continues his forward steps and places both hands over the gun as well as the hands of the younger man. From under his fingertips he can feel Nate's pulse thrumming erratically. His own pulse never races; he trusts Nate completely, even in this situation. The younger man doesn't resist as Sully lowers the gun's aim to the floor before gently plucking the weapon away, and the older man knows that his trust has always been well-placed.

Nate's mouth gapes slightly as he watches Sully move closer; his eyes follow every movement of the other man. His thoughts began to chase each other around as Sully's hand slowly comes up to his eye level. He's in a stupor until the moment he feels a rough flick against his forehead. "Ow!"

"That real enough for you?" Sully's dry voice combined with the stinging from the flick breaks through the haze that clouds his mind. Nate continues to hold his forehead as his mind races. He can't pin down a single thought long enough to wrap his head around anything.

Sully silently slides the gun back into Nate's holster as the younger man finally meets his eyes again. His voice is low and serious. "Don't _ever_ point a gun at me again."

Nate's eyes dart down to his hand, as if he's suddenly waking up and realizing what he's done. He shakes his head and gives a soft noise that Sully chooses to interpret as a huff of disbelief. Nate still rubs at his forehead for a moment – it occurs to the older man that perhaps it's a defense mechanism that he can hide behind. The older man isn't exactly sure why it happens, but Nate speaks and sheds some light on the situation. "I…I saw them shoot you…" he murmurs, "…right after the eclipse." He gestures at Sully with one hand, sounding bewildered and exhausted.

 _Christ_. Sully knows that Nate likely saw horrible things under the influence of his hallucinogenic trip, and he recognizes that they'll have to deal with this at some point – but now isn't the moment. If they ruminate on it now, he fears it might break Nate's psyche and they'll never be able to stop Marlowe. He chooses to focus on the latter part of Nate's sentence. "What? What eclipse?" Nate rubs his forehead silently once more; it's obvious that he's not sure what's going on anymore. Sully continues: "Look, kid, you went nuts right after you drank from that fountain."

Nate's arms drop to his sides as he finds a spot on the floor to fix his gaze on. He seems to be turning this over in his head, unsure as to the veracity of the statement. The horrible visions he suffered are still vividly painted across his mind's eye, and that doesn't go away easily.

Sully knows he has to bring Nate back to the present. "It's the water."

Nate turns away from him now. He walks to the bench behind him and sits down, listening to Sully speak. " _That's_ what destroyed the city," Sully continues, "not 'the Wrath of God'. The whole water supply's tainted with some sort of hallucinogenic agent." Nate looks up at him once more and there's clarity in his eyes. He's beginning to return to himself. Sully pauses for the briefest of moments before finishing his thought. "Must've drove everyone mad."

Nate huffs quietly as he drops his gaze. There's a glint to his eyes now as he ponders this for a moment before looking back up at Sully. " _That's_ what Marlowe and Talbot are after," he realizes aloud. He sighs and drops his head into his hands.

Sully grimaces. "Oh, man, yeah…remember Cutter said, they controlled their enemies through fear." He's gesturing now too; the kid's habit has apparently rubbed off on him throughout the years. Nate nods quietly as Sully gives a sardonic chuckle. "Oh, this'd do it, in spades."

Nate leans over and rests his elbows on his thighs, fingers intertwined and pressed against his mouth as he listens and thinks. He's remembering his own experience and imagining it unleashed on the rest of the world. There's a faraway look to his eyes as he imagines the worst fears of everyone on the entire planet being played out before them.

Sully knows he's mostly talking to himself at this point, but he still needs to see this through. There's one thing that doesn't quite fit with the rest of the scenario that he and Nate have painted together and perhaps talking it out will make it clearer. "But wait, it doesn't make any sense – how do they think they're getting the water out of here?"

Nate speaks up almost immediately, and there's strength in his gaze that hadn't been there previously. "No, it's not the water – it's what's _in_ the water."

He's pleased the kid's finally speaking again, but admittedly he's not sure of the difference between what he's saying and what Nate's saying. "Come again?"

Nate's voice becomes sturdier as he speaks. "All right, listen, just bear with me for a second – Salim told me that Iram was cursed when Solomon imprisoned the evil spirits of the Djinn inside a vessel of brass - " Nate's gesticulating again; it's a good sign – " – and then cast it into the depths of the city."

Sully places his hands on his hips and gives Nate a wry smirk. "A genie in a bottle," he says flatly.

He almost wishes he'd chosen to say it a different way when Nate's voice returns to the halting speech of earlier. "I know it…sounds pretty crazy," the younger man manages.

Sully doesn't comment on that – hell, after the things he's seen both Cutter and Nate go through ( _twice,_ an unpleasant little voice in the back of his head reminds him), he's starting to think that there's nothing left that he can truly declare to be 'crazy'. "So, you reckon that's why Elizabeth and Dee sent Francis Drake out here in the first place," he says. Certainly this makes sense at least. It seems only natural that rulers of a country would want a way to continue their reign with as little interloping as possible.

"Yeah," Nate exhales. "It wasn't treasure they were after, it was power." He sounds almost disappointed at the notion that the explorer he admires so much had been sent on a journey for such a dark and diabolical thing. "Only once Drake realized what he'd been sent for, he abandoned the mission." The strains of his haunting visions are still visible in his gaze, but the strength of Nathan Drake is returning. "He _lied_ to the Queen, told her he didn't find anything, and then hid all traces of his voyage." There's a slight lilt of laughter at the end of his thought. "Rewrote history," he breathes in awe.

Sully huffs out a soft noise of his own as he smirks slightly and nods. Trust it to be Sir Francis Drake to be the one to break the kid out of his spell. "Well," he finally says, his gaze fixing on Nate. "Who are we to argue with Sir Francis?" His smirk slides into more of a smile as he finally approaches Nate and offers the younger man his hand.

It's taken without hesitation.

"Whaddya say we head down there and end this thing," Sully murmurs as he pulls Nate to his feet. Their grip lingers for a touch longer than it normally would; he can feel that Nate's pulse has returned to its normal steady beat. "Once and for all?"

The frightened 15-year-old is gone from Nate's eyes as he stares at his oldest friend. He gives an almost imperceptible nod as they stare out over the city for a moment together.

However this ends, they'll face it together.


End file.
